These South Korea art activities are wonderful for getting to know South Korean leaders and creators, and learning from their gifts and style. Keep reading until the end for some virtual field trips to some amazing museums in South Korea!
Featured South Korean Artist: Paik Nam-june
Paik Nam-june learned to play classical piano as a child, and studied philosophy as an adult. He saw how technology could connect everyone and, in the early 1970s, described the future as an “Information Superhighway.”
Paik made music using everyday sounds before founding Video Art. For example, he stacked TVs in the shape of a cello and controlled the videos on each screen to play a different cellist performing the same song. He made a variety of other shapes out of TVs that involved carefully created videos, like a robot riding a horse or an outline of a country.
South Korea Art Activities: South Korea Craft & Culture Activities for Kids
Featured South Korea Art Activity: Lunar New Year Kite in “Stained Glass”
Kim Yu-sin first flew kites in the 7th century, and South Koreans especially gather on Lunar New Year to fly kites. They sometimes let their kites go by cutting the string to ward off misfortune for the coming year. There are over 100 types of kites in South Korea, and Bangpaeyeon (방패연)is the most common.
Materials
- Take the two long dowel rods/sticks and cross them in the middle in the shape of an “X.” The four ends of the dowel rods will become the four corners of the kite.
- Tie the two rods together in the middle with string. Wrap them well and close it off with a double knot.
- Place the garbage bag over the rods and cut it down to size. Before removing the garbage bag from over the dowels, cut a circle hole about 2-3″ wide in the center of the garbage bag where the dowels cross.
- Now get creative designing your kite using Korean symbols, words and colors! Use the markers to design them however you’d like.
- When you have finished your design, tie the kite to the frame using string.
- Cut a string long enough to reach both sides of the same dowel with some slack. Before tying it on to both ends of the same dowel, cut a second string of the same length. Now tie one of the strings to both ends of the same dowel, and repeat for the second dowel.
- Tie on the flying string! Where those two dowel-length strings cross, tie a third super-long string to keep them together. You will hold one end of this string when flying your kite.
- Go fly a kite! If you want to ward off misfortune for the coming year, grab scissors and cut the string so your kite can fly off!
Other South Korea Craft & South Korea STEM Activities for Kids
- Watch a K-Pop Music Video a few times and record yourself lip syncing it.
- Tie a Good Luck Knot
- Make a paper drum decorated with a Taegeuk
- Yut Nori (Korean board game)
